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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1990)
I Open hearts and closed minds From new receptiveness and freedom of the press to censorship most foul here’s been a lot of publicity about the Honest! The following is a real letter. new Division of Community Policing “Hi there! within the Portland Police Departm ent It seems “I have read this four times and still can’t to be a positive step in healing the breach believe it!” between minorities and local law enforcement. Halt homosexuality by As you peruse this issue, you will see one of banning facial hair the results of this new policy . . . an ad for In the June 10 issue o f Northwest magazine, minority recruitm ent In Just O ut! Dare we the article on AIDS pictured nine homosexuals hope that this is a solid beginning to rid our who were recovering from AIDS. Eight o f these area of homophobia? nine unfortunate people had fa cia l hair. Reaching o u t communicating and educat In my homeland (Indonesia), homosexuality ing, are ways to create a stronger, united front is almost unknown, and almost no one grows against bigotry, racism, prejudice, hatred and fa cia l hair. Could the same mental aberration .fear. In line with this concept starting this (emphasis: Mike Green) that prom otes sexual month, Just Out will list the violent crime/gay- perversion also create an inner desire to grow bashing hotlines (PPD: 248-4106 and the fa cia l hair? Metropolitan Human Relations Commission, Perhaps your society could discourage the MHRC: 796-5136), if or when you need it. growth o f perverse practices and the spread o f T T nother positive step taken was a Summit Meeting to find ways to combat the violence perpetrated against all minorities, including gays. Sponsored by the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission (M HRC),. people from all areas o f society were invited to attend and actively participate. I went as a media representative and (of course), to put in my two cents. I also learned much. We have a resurgence of hatred, bigotry, racism, intolerance, increases in random bias violence and in acts of violence by organized groups. Last year, in this area alone, there were 149 acts of violence, 79 (over half) were done by groups and 46 of that half were done by “boneheads.” These acts of violence, happening across the whole country, are usually treated as “isolated incidents.” However, the disturbing patterns of hate crimes and violence are finally being noticed. We cannot bury out heads in the sand. The July 16/23 issue of The Nation has an article called “The American Neo-Nazi Movement Today” by Elinor Langer (author of Josephine Herbst), a Portland native. It focuses on nazis, skinheads, M etzger’s WAR, Ku Klux Klan, Posse Comitatus (rumored to be headquartered in Clackamas, Oregon) and Christian Identity. Most o f the downtown magazine sellers keep out-of-date issues of The Nation on the shelf. (Thanks for the tip, Richard.) Because of Portland’s small town attitude and propensity for "whitewashing” (within our own lesbian and gay community as well), this area provides cover for terrorists. People don’t want to get involved. The MHRC “believes in the dignity and worth of all human beings. M HRC’s mission is to foster mutual understanding and respect, and to protect the human right of all economic, religious, ethnic, racial, national origin, disability, age, sex and sexual orientation groups in Multnomah County.” ^ Appears to me, they could use our help. What say, we start with ourselves first: Can we accept and support all the diversity (sex, race, way o f life), amongst our own? Can we heal the wounds we’ve inflicted on one another? If we can, then perhaps we will be strong enough to offer our help to others. A this vile disease by banning the employment by all state and federal agencies o f those males who have fa cia l hair. —Amir Morloya, Newberg (June 26,1990, Salem Statesman Journal) "I contemplated shaving o ff my moustache to see i f I craved [a woman], but decided 1 didn’t want to know! "Please assist me in enlightening our community on what causes our 'm ental aberation'! "Thanks, M ike Green (Salem )” After I laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of Mortoya’s letter, I checked with good old Webster. Under mental, the first definition was “of or for the mind.” However, Mortoya probably meant the third one, “diseased in mind.” With aberation, the first and fourth definitions seemed to be what he was after: “a departure from what is right, true, correct,” or “mental derangement or lapse.” The synonyms are even more fun: “insanity, delusion, divergence, mania, alienation, illusion, deviation.” Take your pick. After reading “Idiocies in general,” come back to this and read it again. Then let’s hear from those “experts in mental aberrations.” Richard Francis our cinima and video reviewer and our new half-time staff reporter and copy editor, Rosanne King. ▼ Idiocies in general ratt and Whitney, the company which charged the Air Force $999.20 for a pair of pliers, sent a refund check for $330.20. $669 still seems just a bit steep for pliers, but, hey, what do I know? Maybe the Air Force can cut its budget a little more now. (Sure— and maybe politicians won’t be avaricious and won’t lie.) P The House rejected an amendment which would cut a whole $19.90 from the fiscal 1991 agriculture spending bill. Then— it rejected a 2 percent across-the-board cut in the bill’s discretionary accounts and passed said bill to the tune of $50.35 billion! Who said this country is bad in math? Who said we were smart— we voted them into office The wonderful Polish hero and presidential candidate, Lech Walesa, has promised to “eliminate homosexuals and drug users” from Polish society, if elected. (And this man is a hero?!) “. . . I’m afraid he could be a kind of Polish Hitler,” said Ryszard Kisiel, editor of F1LO, Poland’s gay journal. He added, “They could change the laws. It is as possible as it was in Germany before the war. We are happy they arc not talking about camps yet, but it happened in Germany. And the word he has used is ‘eliminate’.” (Some in formation from Bay Windows, July 12) We don’t have a monopoly on idiots—it’s a world-wide disease. However, it does pop up close to home— a little more often than we’d wish. Here’s a stunning example: “Sister”hood (my quotes, but remember that name) Book ▼ store, in the “trendy” area of Los Angeles, has banned On Our Backs, a lesbian sex magazine Where are we? and anything written by Pat Califia, an author of S/M fiction and a columnist for The enators Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) Advocate. and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) have added According to Karen Dale Wolman, a their names to the 10 cosponsors of the gay and Frontiers writer, “Sister”hood employees state lesbian civil rights bill, Tlie House Bill HR 655 that they are banning the magazine “because has 79 cosponsors, as well, including two they don’t approve of some of the sex it representatives from Cleveland,. Where are our depicts” and Califia’s writings because “her representatives? Where are we? work has absolutely no redeeming value.” This comes from the store that has (or had, the last time I was there), a proud picture of a woman with one breast removed, over the office door. ust Out is proud to announce the formation Last time I looked, we were fighting of a new board of directors. At a meeting on narrow-minded bigots to keep good literature in July 11, three officers were elected: Yvonne Mammarelli (president), Reneé LaChance (vice the libraries. Now, I know a bookstore isn’t a library, but “Sister”hood purports itself to be president) and Chris Maier (secretary- lesbian- and feminist-oriented. S/M dykes and treasurer). Anndce Hochman, Littlejohn Keogh lesbians not afraid of acknowledging their and Carla Jean Looney are the other members. sexuality, still come under the term, lesbian, The board is considering three other individu don’t they? So how can “Sister”hood claim its als, which will bring the total to nine. title? I guess we have our own “Moral Minor We would also like to introduce Cyd ity.” Pity. Athens, who will be writing the “Just be aware” column, a “Just Years” column by Rod Barrow, ▼ 54 SW 2nd ■ 228-1693 ■ Mon.-Thur 10-7 ■ Frl.10-9 ■ Sat. Sun. 10-6 W alks of S y * Mention just out when supporting one of our advertisers A Pledge Walk to Benefit AIDS Care And Education S eptember 9 9A.M. S U N D A Y 1990 W aterfront P ark P O R U A N D » O R E G ON For more information call: Sponsored By: 620 KGW 620 k(i\V 223-W ALK Cascade AIDS Protect US West Foundation KGW TV Channel 8 HtfW EST a FOUNDATION ju s t o u t 1 T 3 ▼ A u g u st 1990
